With a week off between games I thought it a good time to look at recruiting. We’re less than three months away from the “early signing” date and 4 ½ months from the February date.
How many Openings? We have ten players who will complete their eligibility this year. With only 80 of the allowed 85 kids on scholarship, we should have a minimum of 15 openings for this recruiting cycle. By my count, we have 13 additional players who will have completed their undergraduate curriculum but have a year of eligibility remaining. I suspect at least three of those will forego their fourth year of eligibility. Additionally, based on recent history, I think we can expect at least three more players to depart the program due to health issues, lack of playing time, or a variety of other reasons. It’s just what happens. Therefore, I think we could have at least 21 slots to fill during one of the two signing periods now available.
Quarterback. I’m assuming that Culliette will not return for another year of “clipboard duty” and holding for kicks. And with Ledford apparently moving to wide receiver, that leaves us with only three potentially returning QB’s. We have one QB commitment, Patrick Shegogg, a smallish kid from Mississippi who is very quick and has a strong throwing arm. Shegogg did not have a very good junior year, completing only 45.6% of his passes, but, through five games this season, is completing 59% of his passes with 11 TD’s and 5 INT’s. He’s also carried the ball 69 time for 356 yards for another three TD’s. I’m not sure he’s a “game changer,” but he looks like a good prospect. That said, I would not be surprised to see us sign a second QB; we’ve got (or at least had) offers out to several good ones still uncommitted.
Running Back. Clearly the departure of Hilliard and Badie is not a good thing. But with Bradwell, Huderson, and Dauphine (assuming all are healthy), we’ve got the start of a solid backfield for next year. Strickland is the wild card. Will he be healthy? Can he contribute? We’ve got one RB commitment this year, Amare Jones, from Texas. He’s played QB almost exclusively in high school and has some impressive stats in 4 games this year (55% completions (36 for 65) for 456 yards, 7 TD’s and no INT’s. He’s also 67 for 713 rushing with 4 TD’s. He may need a redshirt year to learn the running back position, but the kid is the most elusive back I’ve seen coming to Tulane in years. Regardless, and whether Strickland is ready, I’d like to see us sign a second RB this year, probably one a little bigger and more of a power runner. We need a couple of heavy duty “inside guys” and right now I see only one—Bradwell.
Tight End. I would expect all four of our current tight ends to return next season, so it is not an area of immediate need. Nonetheless we have a commitment from 6’4,” 220# Joshua Quiett and 6’2,” 232# Tyrick James. Quiett has played a lot of wideout and James has also played linebacker in high school so I’m not sure where either will end up. Regardless, I think we’re done at this position.
Wide Receiver. We currently have eleven scholarship wide receivers including Ledford and they all are eligible to return. So, like the tight ends, we’ve certainly got the numbers. That said, we’ve apparently decided on our top four and playing time for others may be at a premium. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two moved on. Beyond all this, our wide outs are not that impressive and we don’t have any WR commits. I’d be happy to get another bigger receiver with speed. We’re recruiting a number of them.
Offensive Line. No Tulane fan can possibly fail to recognize our long-term problems on the O-Line. Of course, we’ve got 13 scholarship linemen on the roster who are all eligible to return. That said, I think at least two will not be back next year and who knows about Knighton, who is in graduate school already. We’ve got four incoming freshmen based on their current commitments and I really like two of them, Hogan and Swann. But, truthfully, though they are under the radar, Remondet and Lewerenz also appear to be more athletic than most of our recent linemen. We still might sign another. Couldn’t hurt.
Defensive Tackles. We’re losing both starting tackles next year, Sean Wilson and Eldrick Washington and their experience will be missed. I really like our commitment from De la Salle, Jamiran James and Devon Wright from Donaldonsville also looks like a potential player. But, I’d still like to see us get one, maybe two, more.
Defensive Ends. Like the tackle position, we’re losing two starters in Aruna and Carroll, though I don’t think either reached their potential at Tulane. We have three commitments in Monjarres, Ryan, and Hatcher, and that may be enough for this year. The question in my mind revolves around Robert Kennedy, who I think may be our best defensive end. How bad are his injuries? When will he return? As a redshirt junior, will he hang it up? If so, I’d like to see us sign another defensive end.
Linebacker. We’ll be losing Luke Jackson and Rae Juan Marbley as a minimum after this season and don’t have any commitments at the position thus far. I think we need at least two, preferably at least one who can play the OLB/DE position we are using more and more.
Defensive Back. Coming off of a game in which we didn’t allow any passing yards and had two interceptions, you’d think we have no concerns back there, especially since we may return 14 of our 16 defensive backs. Of course losing Franklin and Nickerson will leave some mighty big holes in the secondary. I’d guess we’ll lose a couple more due lack of playing time and we’ve only got one commitment so far. Of course, the one, Jamal Anderson, is probably our top rated recruit and looks capable of stepping into the starting lineup very early. That said, we need at least one more.
Special Teams. At least statistically, Block is not as bad a punter as many of us think, but he will be a senior next year. Is this the year to sign a replacement? I’d say yes if we can find a good one. At place kicker, Glover, the walk-on, is only a sophomore, and Neenan, the displaced kicker, is a redshirt freshman. Neither is very impressive and I can’t believe we’re going to depend on either of them for 2-3 more years. If we can’t find a “great” kicker, we need to sign at least a “pretty good” kicker. With our long term history of excellent field goal kickers, we can’t continue to accept this level of incompetence.
So, depending on how many openings we eventually have, I’d like to see 1 QB, 1 RB, 1 WR, 1 OL, 1 DT, 1DE, 2 LB’s, 1 DB, a placekicker and a punter—11 players, 25 total. We probably won’t be able to take that many so we’ll have to wait and see
Roll Wave!!!
How many Openings? We have ten players who will complete their eligibility this year. With only 80 of the allowed 85 kids on scholarship, we should have a minimum of 15 openings for this recruiting cycle. By my count, we have 13 additional players who will have completed their undergraduate curriculum but have a year of eligibility remaining. I suspect at least three of those will forego their fourth year of eligibility. Additionally, based on recent history, I think we can expect at least three more players to depart the program due to health issues, lack of playing time, or a variety of other reasons. It’s just what happens. Therefore, I think we could have at least 21 slots to fill during one of the two signing periods now available.
Quarterback. I’m assuming that Culliette will not return for another year of “clipboard duty” and holding for kicks. And with Ledford apparently moving to wide receiver, that leaves us with only three potentially returning QB’s. We have one QB commitment, Patrick Shegogg, a smallish kid from Mississippi who is very quick and has a strong throwing arm. Shegogg did not have a very good junior year, completing only 45.6% of his passes, but, through five games this season, is completing 59% of his passes with 11 TD’s and 5 INT’s. He’s also carried the ball 69 time for 356 yards for another three TD’s. I’m not sure he’s a “game changer,” but he looks like a good prospect. That said, I would not be surprised to see us sign a second QB; we’ve got (or at least had) offers out to several good ones still uncommitted.
Running Back. Clearly the departure of Hilliard and Badie is not a good thing. But with Bradwell, Huderson, and Dauphine (assuming all are healthy), we’ve got the start of a solid backfield for next year. Strickland is the wild card. Will he be healthy? Can he contribute? We’ve got one RB commitment this year, Amare Jones, from Texas. He’s played QB almost exclusively in high school and has some impressive stats in 4 games this year (55% completions (36 for 65) for 456 yards, 7 TD’s and no INT’s. He’s also 67 for 713 rushing with 4 TD’s. He may need a redshirt year to learn the running back position, but the kid is the most elusive back I’ve seen coming to Tulane in years. Regardless, and whether Strickland is ready, I’d like to see us sign a second RB this year, probably one a little bigger and more of a power runner. We need a couple of heavy duty “inside guys” and right now I see only one—Bradwell.
Tight End. I would expect all four of our current tight ends to return next season, so it is not an area of immediate need. Nonetheless we have a commitment from 6’4,” 220# Joshua Quiett and 6’2,” 232# Tyrick James. Quiett has played a lot of wideout and James has also played linebacker in high school so I’m not sure where either will end up. Regardless, I think we’re done at this position.
Wide Receiver. We currently have eleven scholarship wide receivers including Ledford and they all are eligible to return. So, like the tight ends, we’ve certainly got the numbers. That said, we’ve apparently decided on our top four and playing time for others may be at a premium. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two moved on. Beyond all this, our wide outs are not that impressive and we don’t have any WR commits. I’d be happy to get another bigger receiver with speed. We’re recruiting a number of them.
Offensive Line. No Tulane fan can possibly fail to recognize our long-term problems on the O-Line. Of course, we’ve got 13 scholarship linemen on the roster who are all eligible to return. That said, I think at least two will not be back next year and who knows about Knighton, who is in graduate school already. We’ve got four incoming freshmen based on their current commitments and I really like two of them, Hogan and Swann. But, truthfully, though they are under the radar, Remondet and Lewerenz also appear to be more athletic than most of our recent linemen. We still might sign another. Couldn’t hurt.
Defensive Tackles. We’re losing both starting tackles next year, Sean Wilson and Eldrick Washington and their experience will be missed. I really like our commitment from De la Salle, Jamiran James and Devon Wright from Donaldonsville also looks like a potential player. But, I’d still like to see us get one, maybe two, more.
Defensive Ends. Like the tackle position, we’re losing two starters in Aruna and Carroll, though I don’t think either reached their potential at Tulane. We have three commitments in Monjarres, Ryan, and Hatcher, and that may be enough for this year. The question in my mind revolves around Robert Kennedy, who I think may be our best defensive end. How bad are his injuries? When will he return? As a redshirt junior, will he hang it up? If so, I’d like to see us sign another defensive end.
Linebacker. We’ll be losing Luke Jackson and Rae Juan Marbley as a minimum after this season and don’t have any commitments at the position thus far. I think we need at least two, preferably at least one who can play the OLB/DE position we are using more and more.
Defensive Back. Coming off of a game in which we didn’t allow any passing yards and had two interceptions, you’d think we have no concerns back there, especially since we may return 14 of our 16 defensive backs. Of course losing Franklin and Nickerson will leave some mighty big holes in the secondary. I’d guess we’ll lose a couple more due lack of playing time and we’ve only got one commitment so far. Of course, the one, Jamal Anderson, is probably our top rated recruit and looks capable of stepping into the starting lineup very early. That said, we need at least one more.
Special Teams. At least statistically, Block is not as bad a punter as many of us think, but he will be a senior next year. Is this the year to sign a replacement? I’d say yes if we can find a good one. At place kicker, Glover, the walk-on, is only a sophomore, and Neenan, the displaced kicker, is a redshirt freshman. Neither is very impressive and I can’t believe we’re going to depend on either of them for 2-3 more years. If we can’t find a “great” kicker, we need to sign at least a “pretty good” kicker. With our long term history of excellent field goal kickers, we can’t continue to accept this level of incompetence.
So, depending on how many openings we eventually have, I’d like to see 1 QB, 1 RB, 1 WR, 1 OL, 1 DT, 1DE, 2 LB’s, 1 DB, a placekicker and a punter—11 players, 25 total. We probably won’t be able to take that many so we’ll have to wait and see
Roll Wave!!!
